Air conditioning unit



June 1937- A. STALEY 2,084,601

AIR CONDITIONING UNIT Filed. Jan. 27, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet l JNVENTOR. ALLEN 65 c5 TALEX 1 .J BY 7 E fl w/M, 140!, 11 IVs Mu A TTORNEYS.

June 22, 1937. A. c. STALEY AIR CONDITIONING UNIT Filed Jan. 27, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR flLLEN 6'. T/ILEX BY flW M,

ATTORNEYS.

Patented June 22, 1937 PATENT OFFICE AIR CONDITIONING UNIT Allen 0. Staley, Birmingham, Mich., assignor to Chrysler Corporation, Highland Park, Mich., acorporation of Delaware Application January 27, 1936, Serial No. 61,022

4 Claims.

This invention relates to an improved air conditioning device.

More particularly the invention pertains to im provements in unit type air conditioning apparatus of the character suitable for installation directly in the enclosure in which air is being conditioned. I

One of the main objects of the invention is to provide a unitary, compact and inexpensive de- 10 vice of this character which is regular in shape and accommodatable in space of limited size.

Other objects of the invention are to provide improved means in air conditioning'units of this kind for selectively varying the amount of con- 15 ditioned and unconditioned air discharged therefrom; to provide a heat transfer member for conq ditioning air passing through the unit and an adjacent by-pass passage for the unconditioned portion of the discharge from the unit; to provide means for selectively supplying air to said passage and heat transfer member which has an air discharge outlet so disposed as to direct the main portion of its discharge toward the inlet end of the passage to provide an adjustable closure for the inlet end of the by-pass passage which is inclined so as to direct all, or a portion of the air discharged from said means to the heat transfer member; to provide for the flow of that portion of air discharge which passes directly to the 0 transfer member in a'sweeping course of unabrupt directional change so as to avoid excessive obstruction of air flow and to accommodate the passage of a comparatively large quantity of air through the transfer member; to provide an im- 35 proved heat transfer member, by-pass passage and blower discharge arrangement of this characterby which comparatively large quantities of air may be discharged from the unit when only a relatively small opening is present at the inlet 40 end of the by-pass passage; and to provide a closure for the by-pass passage which is conveniently adjustable. by' relatively simple and inexpensive apparatus that is-operable from the exterior of the unit. 45 An illustrative embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanying drawings, in which: I Fig. 1 is a transverse, vertical, sectional view of an air conditioning unit embodying the invention. 50 Fig. 2 is a. longitudinal, vertical, sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. l.

- Fig. 3 is 'a fragmentary, transverse, sectional view taken on the line 3--3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged, fragmentary, horizontal, 55 sectional view taken on the line H of Fig. 1.

In'the form of the invention illustrated in the drawings, my improved air conditioning unit includes a rectangular base portion I 0, preferably comprising sheet metal, provided with sidewalls II in which longitudinally extending inlet open- I8'-which are located adjacent the left side of the unit, as shown in Fig. 1. a

A pair of blowers l8 are disposed within the base structure Ill and provided with discharge outlets I! each of which communicates with one of the openings in the partition It. The blowers I8 are preferably supported in suspended relation from the partition l6 and the upper end portions of their discharge outlets l9 are provided with flanges which are riveted, or otherwise suitably secured, to the lower side of the partition I6 as illustrated at in Fig. 1. p l The blowers are driven by a common motor 2| having a shaft 22 provided with opposite end sections, one of which is drivingly connected with the rotor of each blower respectively. The motor 2| is also preferably supported in suspended relation from the partition l6, preferably by a bracket 23, as illustrated in Fig. 2.

Rigidly mounted on the upper wall l6 of the base structure It! is a casing, generally designated by the numeral 24, into which both the discharge outletslS of the two blowers deliver air. The casing 24 has an open lower extremity and opposite vertical side walls 25 and 26 which are provided along their lower marginal portions with inwardly extending flanges 21. The flanges 21 of the walls of the casing 26 are secured by bolts 28 to the top wall of the base structure ID or fixed thereto in any suitable manner. The right vertical side wall of the-casing 24 extends only part way to the upper elevation or top wall of the latter with which it is connected by an inclined wall section 29.

- The inclined wall section 29 of the casing 24 is provided with a longitudinally extending opening 30 having outwardly offset marginal portions of the wall section 29 bounding its perimeter. Seated in the recess, provided by the outwardly offset marginal portions 39 is a gasket 32 com-' prising compressible material such as felt or rubber. -A closure 33 for the opening 30 is provided in the interior of the casing 26 and pivotally. attached to the inclined wall portion 29' thereof along its upper longitudinal edge, as illustrated at 34. The closure 33 has a. bracket 36 on its upper side to which a chain .37 is attached. The chain extends upwardly, passes through a slot in the left wall of the outer casing l5 of the unit and has an external portion releasably engageable in a bayonet type slot 38 formed in a bracket 39 mounted on the upper end portion of the left side wall of the outer casing. The closure 33 is normally urged inwardly toward an open position by aspring 40 which bears between the bracket on the closure and the inclined wall section 29 of the casing 24. .It may, however, be held in a completely closed position or in any selected partially open position bythe chain 3'5 which may be manually adjusted by engaging selected links thereof in the bayonet slot 38.

The discharge outlets 19 of the blower are.

located directly below the opening 33 in the inclined wall section 29 and they therefore direct the discharges of the blower toward this opening. Mounted in the lower portion of the casing 24 inslightly overlapping relation with the paths of the air discharged from the blowers l8 in a tank 4| for receiving condensate and liquid derived from a heat transfer member and spray nozzles, hereinafter described.

Mounted on the upper horizontal portion 42 of the extremity of the casing 24 is a heat transfer member 43 comprising a series of turns of a coil 44 and parallel vertically disposed fin plates .45. The coil 44 of the heat transfer. member 43 may be supplied with either a heating or cooling medium from an external source remote: from the cooling unit, or cooling medium may be supplied thereto from suitable refrigerating means (not shown) built in or adjacent the unit. The heat transfer unit 43 extends from within close proximity to the right side of the unit, as viewed in Fig. 1, to a location adjacent the right extremity of the inclined wall section 29 of the casing 24, thus providing a by-pass passage .46 between the heat transfer member and the left side wall of the unit, as illustrated in Fig. 1. The opening 30 in the inclined wall section 29 serves as the inlet to the by-pass passage and an outlet therefrom is provided in the top wall of the outer casing l5 by a grill 4! which extends over the outlet end of theby-passpassage 46 and over the discharge end of the heat transfer member 43. The opposite ends of the heat transfer member 43 are closed by vertical end walls 48 having outwardly extending flanges 49. Mounted on the flange 48 of the left end wall 48 shown in Fig. 2, is a tank 50 having an inlet pipe 5| communicating therewith and leading from an external source of water supply. The tank 50 has an outlet communicating with one or more horizontally extending pipes 52 disposed over the discharge end of the heat'transfer member 43. The pipes 52 are provided with discharge outlets or nozzle opening 53 by which water, preferably in the form of a relatively fine spray, may be sprayed in a direction opposite to the fiow of air through the heat transfer member. The water. spray is preferably used for humidifying the air when the unit is employed for heating purposes. It may, if desired, also be used while a cooling mediwq um is being circulated through the coil 44. Any

excess water derived from the spray system or condensed by the coils 44 is collected in the tank 48 from which it drains into the drip pan ll and from the latter through the outlet pipe 54 which is preferably connected to the drain pipe of the building in which the unit is installed. The drip pan H! extends beyond the side walls 25 and 26 of the casing for collectingmoisture condensed therein.

Air entering the lower portion of the unit is preferably cleaned by passing through filters 55 before entering the blowers is. The filters are vertically disposed and detachably mounted on the sides of the base structure Ill of the unit by bolts 56. The filters are wholly concealed from view within the interior of the sheet metal base structure it and they are preferably located in registration with the inlet openings I2 thereof. The outer casing l5 may be provided with corresponding inlet openings registering with the inlet openings IE or if desired the outer casing may be provided with short corner legs by which the sheet metal wall structure thereof is held in spaced relation with the floor so as to permit the flow of air thereunder.

In operation, While the blowers 58 are driven, each blower discharges a current-of air directly toward the inclined wall section 29. When the closure 33 is in its closed position, as illustrated in the drawings all of the air discharged by the blower I8 is deflected rightwardly, as viewed in Fig. l. The rounded contour of the moisture collecting tank 4!! guides the flow of air in gently sweeping course somewhat toward the'upper end portion of the inclined wall section 29, and the pressure of the air built up on the section 29 and closure provides a lateral sweeping curvilinear path for air flow to the inlet end of the heat transfer member. When the closure 33 is open, some of the air discharged by the blowers is admitted directly to the inlet end of the by-pass passa e 46. Inasmuch as the inlet end of this passage is in direct registration with the outlet of the blower, only a slight amount of opening of the closure 33 is required to by-pass a substantial quantity of air. The remaining portion of the air discharged by the blowers I8 is directed rightwardly, as viewed in Fig. 1, in the above manner. 'The rightwardly deflected portion of the air current then passes upwardly through the heat transfer member 43 and is ultimately discharged through the grill'prbvided in the upper wall of the external casing I5. In this manner, circu-' lation of asubstantially constant quantity of air within the room may be maintained while varying the temperature and humidity conditions in the air of the room by changing the portions of the circulated air which are subje'ctedto treatment in the heat transfer member and by-passed through the passage 46 respectively.

Although but one specific embodiment of the invention is herein shown and described, it will be understood that various changes may be made in the size, shape and arrangement of parts, without departing from the spirit of my invention.

What I claim is:

1. An air conditioning unit lncludin'g'a casing having spaced air inlet and outlet openings, a heat transfer member in said casing adjacent said outlet opening, a by-pass passage laterally adjacent said member for conducting air around said member as it flows from one of said openings to the other, a blower discharge chamber aligned vertically with said member and said passage having a tank therein aligned with only said member, and a blower having an outlet opening into said discharge chamber and spaced from the inlet ends of said member and passage and so disposed as to discharge air in a course laterally adjacent said tank and directly toward the inlet of said by-pass passage.

2. An air conditioning unit including a casing having spaced air inlet and outlet openings, a heat transfer member in said casing between said openings, a by-pass passage between said inlet and outlet openings and laterally adjacent said member'for conducting air around said member as it flows from one of said openings to the other, a blower discharge chamber below said member and passage, a tank insaid chamber aligned vertically with said member and misaligned with said passage, a blower having an outlet spaced from the inlet ends of said member ing the remainder thereof toward the inlet end and passage and so disposed as to discharge air into said chamber directly toward-the inlet of said by-pass passage, and a variable closure for the inlet end of said by-pass passage slanting toward the inlet end of said heat transfer member for controlling the amount of blower discharged air admitted to said passage and directof said heat transfer member.

3. An air conditioning unit including a casing having. an air outlet opening in its upper wall, a heat transfer member in said casing located at the upper end thereof and having an outlet end registering with less than the entire area of said outlet opening and having an inlet end, a by-pass passage in said casing laterally adjacent said heattransfer member having an outlet end registering with the remaining portion of the outlet opening of said casing and having an inlet and laterally adjacent the inlet end of said member, a partition in said casing inclined toward the inlet, end of said member for directing air to the latter and having an opening therein for admitting air to said by-pass passage, a blower discharge chamber below said passage and below and communicating with said member and the opening of said partition, a tank in said chamber vertically aligned with said member and laterally spaced from the opening in said partition, a variable closure for said inlet opening of said partition, said casing having an inlet spaced laterally from the inlet of said member and registering with the inlet end of said bypass passage, and a blower having a discharge openingcommunicating with the inlet of said casing and adapted to discharge air into said chamber and directly upon said partition.

4. An air conditioning unit including a. casing having. an airoutlet opening in its upper wall,

a cooling member in the upper end'portion of said casing having an outlet registering with a portion less than the entire area of said outlet opening and providing a by-pass passage between one of its sides and one side wall of said casing, a blower having an air discharge outlet registering substantially vertically with said passage, a tank in said casing below said cooling member for the reception of condensed moisture and having an upright wall portion located adjacent the outlet of said blower for cooperating with said wall of said casing in directing the discharge of said blower to said passage, and variable means for deflecting all or selected portions of said blower discharge to said cooling member.

ALLEN c. ,S'I-ALEY. 

